Was that point at 6-3, 5-4, 30-30 a turning point in the Fedal rivalry?

Fed came out last night destroying Rafa. Should have won it 6-4, 6-2. But Nadal as we all know never gives in, and fought back. Roger was close to choking, very close, and that 30 all point was huge. It was a long rally, with both guys trading offense and defense, Roger scrambling like never before, and eventually, Rafa made the error. Then the rain delay and the ace to close it out.

But what if Rafa had won that point? Would Uncle Toni keep the rains away long enough for him to get that break point? Would he have let it rain at all? Would Federer be as clutch to smack an ace if it was 30-40 instead of 40-30? And then if Rafa breaks for 5 all, he has all the momentum. I think it was a big turning point. What says you?

Re: Was that point at 6-3, 5-4, 30-30 a turning point in the Fedal rivalry?

No. For starters, Roger has a winning record on HC vs Nadal anyway. So this result just reinforced the fact Roger is the better player between the two off clay. That was an awesome fighting point from Roger, and his reaction when he won it showed just how badly he wanted to win. But this match holds little importance when it comes to other matches in different situations, on different surfaces. This rivalry is 100% about match-ups.

Re: Was that point at 6-3, 5-4, 30-30 a turning point in the Fedal rivalry?

Yeah it would have to have been at a slam to actually have meaning in their rivalry or Federer's mental state against Nadal. I'm sure Federer is a much better state of mind for the next few weeks since he did beat Nadal, but I don't think it'll really matter the next time they play.

Re: Was that point at 6-3, 5-4, 30-30 a turning point in the Fedal rivalry?

If Fed wins the next two or three times they play using the same sort of strategy as he did yesterday, then maybe we'll be able to look back and say maybe it was, but I don't expect that to happen really.

Re: Was that point at 6-3, 5-4, 30-30 a turning point in the Fedal rivalry?

yes. Roger will end his career with a positive h2h against rafa now.

JuanMartinDel Potro

But he lost 23 times against you.
's right. We have to also throw into the mix. But I do not think it is currently the decisive factor. But he has achieved in my opinion too much. Maybe this is crucial if I move him even closer after major victories. But 14 or 17 Grand Slam titles is a significant difference. At the present time there is no question that he must be the greater player than me.

Re: Was that point at 6-3, 5-4, 30-30 a turning point in the Fedal rivalry?

Am i the only one who noticed fed actually stuck to a gameplan that djokovic has employed so sucessfully againt nadal? Nadal even claimed he played well and there wasn't much wind in the first set. Fed used a similar strategy at WTF 2011 against nadal peppering his backhand and was also doing the same at the Aussie open and had won the first set and was up a break and then he started approacing on nadal's forehand throughout the rest of the match too frequently.

People argued fed just needed to be monotonous and keep going to rafa backhand which is exactly what he did ALL match long even returing nadals serve to the backhand. One new adjustment I saw is fed hitting many more TOPSPIN forehands curving into nadals backhand on deuce side as opposed to flat shots so nadal could not run around it and thus was able to pin nadal there much more frequently. He also ocassionaly would hit to rafa's forehand but never went to net and instead on the next shot fed would hit right back to rafa backhand which rafa would be on the run and would miss it. This is exactly the way he should play nadal. While he may lose in miami if he plays nadal, I think from now on if he employs this strategy he will have much much more sucess on grass, and any faster outdoor hard courts.

This match really could have been 6-3, 6-1. Regardless, fed learned from australia and is essentially playing his forehand into rafa backhand. Rafa has a harder time hitting with too much pace off his backhand so even if he tries to redirect up the line to roger backhand which is the lower percentage shot the lack of pace will allow fed to run around and hit a forehand more often than not.

fed's got a big decision to make as far as monte carlo. It starts 2 weeks after miami and bc nole is not playing he could get to the finals and gain 400 points just getting to the finals and really pressure nadal into playing all of his clay tournaments and if he even slips a little fed will have number 2 by roland garros and at least a shot of nole and rafa being paired together as opposed to being number 3 he would have to play both to win it while being numer 2 would give him a 50% shot that he'd only play the winner of nole-rafa.

Re: Was that point at 6-3, 5-4, 30-30 a turning point in the Fedal rivalry?

It was the single most important point in yesterday's match, no doubt about that.

As for its importance in the future, I doubt it will make much difference. One thing that was obvious yesterday though, is that Federer now knows how he needs to play in order to beat Nadal. He needs to keep constant pressure on Nadal and if Fed has a good day like yesterday, he can do it for an entire match. If Roger's level drops however, he will lose. It is that simple. Fed also refused to pull out the slice yesterday even though he likes that shot - an excellent move as Nadal eats slices for breakfast. Peak Federer didn't play this smart against Nadal.

We should be appreciative of Federer though, because we will never see anything like him again. The fact he can still compete for slams ever after the erosion of his physical skills is really a greater testament to the natural talent he has than the period of time when he was dominating the tour.